


Which cat does she like better?

by TheBoredBookworm



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Neko Atsume AU, basically what would happen if these two started playing Neko Atsume
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8375707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBoredBookworm/pseuds/TheBoredBookworm
Summary: Marinette gets hooked on the game Neko Astume but has no one who plays it to talk about it with. Adrien hears of the game and gets hook. Only problem is that the one person he knows that plays can't speak a full sentence to him. But she can hold a conversation with Chat Noir. Based on the headcanons I wrote on my Tumblr.(This is a series I started a while back in December, I'll be slowly moving the chapters over from my FFN to over here and also continuing it, if you want to read everything that is already written you can find it on my FFN account of the same name)





	1. Chapter 1

When the ad for the game Neko Atsume popped up on Marinette's phone, she would have never guessed what would happen after downloading it.

The next day was on of the few days that Marinette actually arrived one time. As happy as Alya was to see her best friend on time, she found it rather strange that the girl was so focused on her designs. Even stranger was that they were all cat themed. Could her best friend have developed a crush on Chat Noir without her know? Now that simply won't do.

"Umm can you explain why you are designing cat themed clothes now?" Alya asked while giving her best friend a worried look.

"Because I just found this really cute game, it's called Neko Atsume and just look at Snowball with its cute red ball," said Marinette while taking out her phone to show Alya.

As Marinette continued to gush about the game and her planned designs, she fail to notice that she had gained the attention of her crush, Adrien Agreste. Having heard the mention of cat designs Adrien had begun to eavesdrop on the girls' conversation.

Nino, noticing where his best friend's attention lies leaned forward and whispered to him.

"Dude, you know if you want in on the girls conversation you have to say something."

"I'd rather not, Marinette clams up whenever I try to talk to her," replied Adrien also in a whisper before reaching for his bag to take out his school supplies. "Class is about to start anyway."

"Neko Atsume?" the boy thought to himself "It had cats in it so maybe I should check this game out."

Later that day right before heading to a photoshoot, Adrien downloaded the game so he would have something to do for fun during breaks.

Within moments of downloading he was hooked. He couldn't wait to talk to someone about this game and compare cats.

Only problem was that Nino showed no interest in the game, Chloe acted as if she was above "childish" phone games, Alya was too busy with the Ladyblog for games and the one person he did know who played was the person who could barely form two sentences around him.

But she could hold a conversation with Chat Noir.

"Hey, Plagg? How mad would you be if I transformed into Chat Noir for a reason besides saving Paris?"

"Depends on how much cheese you will give me afterwards," replied Plagg with a questioning glance.

"Alright then, Plagg claws out."


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette was stressing out. After a week of thinking she still didn't know what to do.

"Oh Tikki, I don't know if I should do it or not. This has to be the hardest decision I've ever made."

"Don't worry so much about it Marinette, I'm sure you will make the right choice. It's not like the world will end and if you regret your choice then you could always fix it later," replied the tiny Kwami.

Now what could possibly be the hard decision that was driving the poor superhero crazy. Simple. Should she or should she not rename her cats in Neko Atsume.

"You're right Tikki, now just to figure out what to name them," the girl said as she popped onto her rolling chair and spun around a few times.

Poor Marinette stared at her phone for what seemed like hours but was only less than five minutes before finally tapping on the name of one of her cats and began to change its name. She wasn't going to change all the names, there were too many cats in the game without even counting the special ones, she would change just the ones where the personality reminded her of someone she knew. She changed Dottie to Alya because her personality was friendly and Alya was her best friend. She changed Spots to Nino because his personality was Joker and Marinette still remembered the Bubbler incident. She changed Speckles to Adrien because his personalty was Lonely and Marinette knew that Adrien was lonely even if he didn't say it. She changed a few more cats to her classmates names but what she didn't expect was the last cat she changed.

She changed Fred, the Lady-Killer, with Chat Noir.

_"Wait, he's not really a lady-killer. Maybe I should change it to something else..."_

Seeing Marinette's surprised face, Tikki flew behind her so as to look over her shoulder.

"The cat may be a flirt but I didn't know you thought of him that way Marinette," teased Tikki after seeing just what had surprised her so much.

"It's not like that Tikki. But since you're so interested in the game right now, why don't you help me chose what new toy I should buy? I'm stuck between-"

Before she finished her sentence, Marinette heard a knock on the trapdoor above her bed. After a quick panicked glance around her room to make sure that Tikki is out of sight from what ever was up there, she climbed the ladder to her bed and popped open the trap door.

_"Just who or what would be on my roof without me knowing first?"_

What was out on her roof was none other than Chat Noir.

"Ch-chat? What are you doing here?" questioned Marinette as she climbed out the trapdoor before seeing just how dark it was outside. "And at this time of night?"

Marinette tried her best not to look nervous or tense but the possible reasons as to why Chat Noir would be on her balcony raced through her head and what she came up with wasn't helping.

_"Did he figure me out? I haven't transformed all day so he couldn't have followed me. Maybe he just wants some bread? But why would a cat want bread? I really hope he hasn't found out."_

"Oh I was just passing by and realized that I hadn't check up on you since the Akuma attack. A loyal knight should make sure his princess isn't in any danger," answered Chat along with a wink. Of course the real reason that he was here was to talk to her about Neko Atsume but it would be rather suspicious if he just magically knew that she played that game when she had only begun playing a week ago and it had been quite a while longer than that since the last time they saw each other. He had to play it cool. He could do that. He was, of course, the coolest cat around. At least, in his head he was.

_"Thank god, I'm safe for now."_

"That's very nice and all but I fine. Nothing bad has happened to me since that day," said Marinette as she gestured to her perfectly healthy self, "so no need to worry. And aren't dogs the loyal animals, not cats?"

"Meouch Princess, cats can be just as loyal as dogs if they are given the chance. Just look at me. I'm purrfectly loyal to my fans," Chat ended his statement with another wink to Marinette.

Deciding that it would be best to just let him win before he made another bad cat pun the young designer responded by saying, "Alright you win, cats are loyal. Now it's getting rather late and I have scho-" Marinette was about to ask Chat to leave when a thought popped into her head. "Actually hold on a minute, if you're as loyal as a cat then just how cat-like are you?"

"Purretty cat-like," said Chat as he dropped onto the chair she had set outside and curled up into a ball just like a cat.

"Umm, then can you help me with something?" Marinette asked as she began to pet his head in hopes that it would get her a yes.

The purr the came soon after seemed rather promising.

"Anything for my Princess."


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette stopped petting Chat Noir and just stared at him, his eyes growing wide as he realized what he had just said to her.

Chat knew he needed to learn how to phrase his sentences better. The light blush that appeared on Marinette's face was proof of that. He didn't think what he said would affect her this much. It just slipped out, similar to how he would often speak to Ladybug. Ladybug never seemed to show any signs that his flirting affected her.

_"Maybe Marinette likes me. Nah, she's probably just fangirling on the inside_. _"_

The awkward silence and staring was getting more and more awkward by the second so Chat decided to be the first to break it.

"Marinette? Cat got your tongue?" Chat hoped the joke might break the awkward tension that was growing between the two of them.

"Oh sorry umm, can you come inside? It's chilly out here and I umm, left my phone inside," Marinette finally said before looking away. In her head she was chastising herself for allowing Chat to fluster her like that. Ladybug wasn't affected by his advances so she shouldn't either, right? It was just so strange to hear "my Princess" instead of the "my Lady" she is so used to hearing.

"Of course," said Chat while walking to the trapdoor and gesturing to her room below. "Ladies first."

"What a gentleman," responded Marinette, "or is it gentlecat?"

"Either is fine," said Chat as he watched Marinette disappear down the trapdoor before poking his head through it, "as long as you can tell that I am a noble knight ready to help his Princess."

"Well then, noble knight, come down here and help me" Marinette said while throwing a pillow at the upside down Chat and racing down the stairs to her desk.

As much as Chat would deny it later and say he did it on purpose, the pillow to the face caught him by surprise and caused him to lose his balance. The disturbance was just enough to send him face first into Marinette's bed.

_"Guess cats don't always land on their feet,"_ thought Marinette as she picked up her phone and prepared herself for what she would ask him.

"Now don't laugh at what I'm about to ask you," Marrinete said.

"I'm sure what you need help on is impurrtant so I won't laugh." What could she need his help with that would make him laugh anyway?

"Okay," pause for dramatic effect, well more so for her to calm her nerves, "what toy should I buy my cats?" Marinette quickly asked while shoving her phone into his face. Asking him for help on something that seemed so childish in retrospect was much more embarrassing than she had expected. As long as he doesn't laugh.

Chat Noir is one who normally keeps his word. But this one time he could not.

He stayed silent for a moment then burst out laughing. Laughing so hard in fact, that he had to sit down until he calmed down.

Who would have thought that his princess was the one who would bring up the game first and in such a strange way too.

"Chaaat," Marinette said, "you promised not to laugh, what kind of knight laughs at his princess' request." Neither of them noticed the fact that she called herself "his princess"

"Sorry," Chat paused to catch his breath and calm himself, "it was just so unexpected."

"Will you still help me?" A part of Marinette hoped he would say no. What was she thinking asking him for help with virtual cats. Of course he would laugh at her request.

"Of course, lucky fur you I actually play Neko Atsume too."

Well that's surprising. She doesn't know anyone that plays so this a pretty good turn of events.

"Then what do you think I should do, buy something that cost a lot of grey fish or buy them something with the gold fish. I have a lot of gold fish so I feel like I should treat them but I also want to save it." Marinette handed him the phone before flopping down onto her chair and spinning a bit to calm herself. "Why is this game full of so many hard decisions?"

_"She's so much more expressive when she's not talking to Adrien. I wonder why she can't be like this around me when I don't have my mask on."_

"Hmm you have almost enough gold fish to buy the yard expansion so, in my opinion, just buy something with the gray fish, you can get some pretty cute special cats with the grey fish. The cowboy hat is my favorite so far."

"Ooh what does it attract?" Marinette asked as she got up to see what item he was referring to.

"Buy it and find out."

"Fine," she said as she took her phone back.

Marinette bought the cowboy hat and set it. After setting the hat she collected the fish that the cats had left her. Unfortunately for her, Chat was looking right over her shoulder and saw that she had renamed one of the cat.

"You changed the names? You didn't happen to name one after this loyal knight did mew?"

"Maybe," was all she said. Why hadn't she changed it before she went to check outside.

"Who?" Questioned Chat.

"Fred." Marinette tried her best to make it sound uninteresting so that he would not ask anymore questions about it. But how do you make a name sound uninteresting to a cat that's curious. There's a whole saying about curiosity and cats.

"Fred? I don't think I've seen him yet."

Chat was definitely curious. Why didn't she just say that she didn't name one after him. There was no way she was getting out of this without showing him the cat. As much as it pained her, she opened up to his page on the catbook.

"Here," she hands him the phone. "This is him"

"Why did you name him after me? I look nothing like him."

"Look at the personality." Marinette muttered and looked away in embarrassment.

Chat look and for the second time that day, he ended up on the ground laughing.

"Wow Princess, I knew mew were a fan but this is unexpected. Am I really that purrfect?"

"No and I was just about to change it back when you showed up. Give me my phone back so I can change it." Marinette reached for the phone but Chat was a good few inches taller than her and easily held the phone out of her reach.

"Awe don't be like that Princess. Please don't change it." Chat fake pouted. "This knight worked so hard to help his princess choose the purrfect toy."

"Fine, but on one condition."

Chat gives her a puzzled look.

"You have to show me your cats."

"Sure thing Prin-" before Chat could finish his words he realized two very important things he had forgotten in his rush to Marinette's house.

One, he forgot to put his phone in his pocket after transforming.

And two, like Marinette, he too had changed a few of his cats to the names of those he knew. If he showed her the cats it wouldn't be hard for her to realize that they at least went to the same school and from there it wouldn't be hard to narrow it down to him.

"Chat?"

"Whoops, I guess I left my phone at home. I'll show you next time. I purromise," Chat raced out the trapdoor and on his way back to his house before she could make any comment.

"Again with the cat puns..." muttered Marinette under her breath while she watched Chat leave. She looked at the time and decided it best be time for her to sleep. She turned off the lights and headed to bed without changing the name back to Fred.

"That was a close one."

"All this for a game. You better give me a lot of cheese for this." Plagg complained. As usual all he seemed to care about was the cheese he was getting out of this. Sure the little guy cared about Adrien but cheese was definitely better than a game.

"I will, but first I have to change all these names back to default." The only ones he wouldn't change were the cats he named Ladybug and Chat Noir. Adrien had decided to name them after their looks rather than personality as Marinette had done. Ginger, being red, was now Ladybug and Smokey, being a black cat, was now Chat Noir.

Once done, Adrien checked his yard for new cats and found one. It's name was Princess.

"Princess? Well Marinette has me on hers so I guess it wouldn't bad if I changed this one to her name. Princess Marinette."


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette should have never shown Alya the name changes on Neko Atsume.

All Marinette had meant to do was show Alya the cat that she had named after her but then she wanted to know who Nino was and by the end of it all Alya knew that Marinette had named Chat Noir as the Lady-Killer cat. The teasing would probably only end once the teacher begins class.

Unknown to the two best friends, Adrien was once again eavesdropping on their conversation. He felt kind of warm inside to know that Marinette had kept his name, even if he hadn't kept his end of the bargain. Tonight he would have to make a stop at his princess' house to show her his cat. Let's just hope that there is no akuma attack that gets in the way.

"Dude, one of these days they are gonna notice you eavesdropping," Nino whispered. It was weird that his best friend was listening in so often. Maybe he was starting to return Marinette's feelings. If he was he would be happy to set them up on a date. Since Marinette was so shy around Adrien it would give Nino an excuse for a double date with Alya.

"I just heard the name Chat Noir and got a bit curious, " jusy like a cat, "I thought they were talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir." Adrien prefered not to lie to his best friend but how was he supposed to explain why he was eavesdropping.

It was going to be difficult to go about his day without talking to Marinette or checking on his cats in front of her. He had the biggest urge to check his cats but if he did and Marinette saw she might figure him out once he shows her later tonight.

_"Guess I'll just go to the bathroom and check the cats then so no one sees."_

A good idea but bad luck is often at Adrien's side so the extra time it would time him to walk to the bathroom was just enough that he missed the opportunity to take a picture of a new special cat that stopped by. This frustrated Adrien as every time he did get to check he would see that he had missed it.

Desperate, Adrien checked his phone in class near the end of the day. They were working on a worksheet and the teacher was busy with another student so it would be safe. A quick glance back told him that Marinette wasn't looking his way and was too focused on the sheet in front of her.

Opening up the app, Adrien checked the yard and found no special cat aside from Tubbs. Checking the gifts, he saw that once again he had missed it. Adrien was about to yell out in fustration when he saw the cat that was right below it.

Princess Marinette had brought him gold fish.

The warm feeling that had happened ealier when hear Marinette speak of him returned and he couldn't help but look at the cat with affection.

He was definitely going to pay Marinette a visit tonight.

As soon as Adrien was done with the photoshoot he had scheduled after school, he transformed into Chat Noir. At first, he was going to go straight to Marinette's house but he knew that he should at least do a quick run of the city in case there was any evil afoot.

Of course, after such a frustrating day he somehow managed to cut his time in half and make it to Marinette's house earlier than expected. He would deny the fact that he may have cheated a bit.

The one lucky thing that had happened to him that day was that Marinette was sitting right under the trapdoor so no time was wasted as he tapped he glass.

Marinette was also eager to see what cats Chat had so she opened the trapdoor the second she heard the tap.

"Hey Princess, you never let me see the rest of the cats you renamed."

"Remember you have to show me your cats first," she shifted over a bit and pat her bed to indicate that he should probably get in. To make up for his embarrassing entrance the day, he did his best to lower himself gracefully this time. Unfortunately he hit Marinette in the face with his tail.

"So sorry, Princess. Are you okay?" Genuine concern laced his voice even though that slap by his tail wasn't that hard and no physical damage was left on Marinette's face.

"I'm fine, now show me the cats. I've been waiting all day."

Chat showed Marinette his cats and explain that he changed the names to fit appearance. Execpt for Princess Marinette of course.

"Princess Marinette?" A look of confusion and embarrassment set upon Marinette's face and Chat could not help but find it adorable.

"I saw the cat's name and since you're my princess I decided to change the name."

A red-faced Marinette quickly changed the subject by showing him that she had changed Rascal, the selfish cat, to Chloe. That brought out another fit of laughter from Chat that Marinette found herself enjoying.

It wasn't long until the casual conversation between the two began as they waited for more cats to appear in their yards. He let her vent about how much of a jerk Chloe was that day and she let him vent about his unrequited love for Ladybug. Basically all of Paris seemed to know of his feeings for her. Chat even got Marinette to admit that there was a prince that had stolen her heart.

"So who is the prince that has my princess' heart?"

"No one you know," Marinette hoped he would drop the topic.

"You sure?" He didn't want to give away any clues that he knew her in his civilian form but he was so curious. "I'm purretty well known."

"Pawsitive."

_"Did she just make a cat pun?"_ Something about that made his cheeks go red. Maybe it was that she had made a pretty good pun, in his opinion at least. Maybe it was because she was comfortable enough to make that joke in front of him, something Adrien would never be able to experience. Maybe it was because it showed how much he had rubbed off on her, how much they had gotten closer.

"It's getting late, you should probably go soon."

"I hadn't realized the time,' it was almost midnight and he had yet to finish all his homework but coming to see Marinette was worth it.

"If I don't go to sleep soon I'm going to be late for class tomorrow, " she looked at the time on her phone and saw it had just reached twelve, "erm today I guess."

They checked their cats one last time. This time it was Marinette who missed her chance to take a picture.

"No fair," Marinette pouted slightly and Chat couldn't stop the rush of heat to his face from the sight.

"Wh-What happened?" Did she noticed his voice crack, probably not.

"Billy the Kitten stopped by and I didn't get a picture. I've been looking forward to him since you told me about the cowboy hat."

Chat wanted to hug her so much at that moment. And that's exactly want he did.

"Chat?"

Now how was this cool cat supposed to play this off? Honesty?

"You just looked like you needed a hug. Missing the chance for a picture is purrty frustrating." Guess it wasn't honesty. If it was he would have admit that he found her aborable and the fact she was looking forward to the cat since he told her was oddly sweet.

"I'll just get going now." Chat left thought the trapdoor, leaving Marinette alone to her thoughts.

She liked the hug.

The next day was much like the day before.

Go to school.

Eavesdrop on Marinette and Alya to see if he was mentioned.

Get a warm fuzzy feeling when he hears Marinette's reaction to Alya's teasing over the Chat Noir in the game.

Then head to Marinette's house once the sun sets.

He arrived, was welcomed in, and they compared cats.

There was some tension at first but it seemed they both had an unspoken agreement not to mention what happened the night before as he was about to leave.

They joked and laughed as they waited for more cats to arrive.

All the joking and small talk made them almost forgot about their cats. Almost.

After a while, they decided to look online to see what items attracted which cats. To Marinette's embarrassment, she forgot to change the background of her computer to something less Adrien.

"Who's this Princess?" Like Chat didn't already know.

"Just a classmate and model, I'm a fan of his father's work." Marinette couldn't help but blush as she thought of Adrien. The look of affection she gave the wallpaper was similar to the one Chat gave to Ladybug when she wasn't looking.

And that's how Chat Noir figured out that Marinette had a crush on Adrien Agreste.

"Would this be the Prince that has your heart?" Chat asked with a smirk. His heart was pounding in his chest but he couldn't show it. He didn't want to reveal himself and ruin what friendship they had forged.

Marinette's blushed heavily at his question. Talking to someone other than Alya about her crush on Adrien was not something she was used to. She could try denying it but she doubt that he would buy it. The wallpaper had hearts all over it and if Chat payed any attention to her room the first night he would have seen the pictures of Adrien she took down when she came home from school the day before.

Good luck was often at Marinette's side and as she was about to respond, her phone rang alerting her to a text from Alya.

An akuma attack was going on and Ayla was going to video tape the whole thing for the Ladyblog.

"Damnit," Marinette forgot Chat was in the room momentarily as panic began to set in. What if Ayla got hurt?

"What happened?" Neither Chat nor Adrien had ever heard her curse and the look on her face was enough to concern him.

"There's an akuma and my best friend Alya is trying to video tape it live for the ladyblog. Sorry but I have to go get her put of there before she gets hurt." Marinette quickly grabbed her bag and raced for the trapdoor that would lead her to the lower levels of the house. Before she could make it to the trapdoor, Chat grabbed her arm and spun her so she was facing him.

"You can't go out there, what if you get hurt?" He didn't quite understand but he despised the thought of sweet Marinette in danger. He wanted to protect his princess from a the dangers that facing an akuma would bring.

"But she's my best fr-"

"Ladybug and I can handle it. Just purromise me you'll stay here. Where it's safe."

"I promise."

"Purrfect, I'll try to make it back soon so we finish this conversation that the akuma has so rudely interupted. Stay safe."

He left so fast he didn't hear her mutter a "sorry Chat" under her breath.

When Chat arrived to the scene of the attack he noticed that Ladybug wasn't there yet. He took this time to scan the crowd for Alya. He spotted her being dragged off in the opposite direction by people trying to get away from the akuma. Now that he didn't have to worry about that, time to focus on figuring out as much about the akuma until his Lady arrived.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug cried out to get his attention as she swung to the scene. "What happened before I got here?"

"Same old, same old. Looks like this time it's an old guy that got mad at some teens because he didn't understand them. That's all I've gathered at this point."

"Any idea where the akuma might be?"

"Nope," adding "Can we make this quick? I was in the middle of something impurrtant."

"We can try, what were you on a date or something?" Ladybug teased, knowing exactly where Chat was before the akuma attack.

"Maybe."


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette should not be awake at 12 am. But she was. All for a silly cat that never came back.

The akuma was relatively easy and it didn't take them too long to cleanse it. Despite this, Chat never came back to finish his conversation with Marinette.

"You should go to bed Marinette, he's probably not going to show up. He used Cataclysm so his transformation wasn't going to last much longer," Tikki said.

"You're right, goodnight Tikki." As much as she would hate to admit it, she was disappointed that she didn't get to see Chat.

She decided to go to bed and wait for Chat's visit the next night.

Adrien should not be awake at 12 am. But he was. All because Plagg wouldn't let him go back to Marinette's house.

They had raced back home to feed him some cheese so they could go to Marinette's but Plagg refused to eat enough cheese to replenish his energy until Adrien promised he would no go back to his classmate's house. He felt so nervous about seeing her at school after what he had discovered. He wished he could have gone back to talk to her and find out what exactly she felt for him. But Plagg said no.

Adrien thought Plagg was just being lazy. But Plagg had other things on his mind.

Plagg knew that Adrien could not keep visiting Marinette as Chat Noit unless he wanted her to be in danger.

If anyone found out that Chat Noir was visiting a girl in the middle of the night, not only would it taint Chat's reputation, it would put Marinette in danger of both the media and Hawkmoth.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Plagg really did care a lot about Adrein's happiness and did not want this to end.

The friendship the Chat Noir and Marinette had begun was making the boy so happy and Plagg didn't have the heart to tell him that he was putting the poor girl in danger. It wouldn't be the same if he tried to make friends with her as his civilian self, the boy was shyer than most would expect without the mask and after finding out the girl had a crush on him there was little chance that he would be able to hold a conversation with her.

He didn't even want to think about the guilt Adrien would have over possibly putting his princess in danger.

_"I'll give him a few days, maybe a week. If he can't figure out the danger he puts her in then I tell him. Funny how all this happened because of a cat game."_

With a heavy heart, Plagg fell asleep while watching the nervous boy toss and turn in his sleep.

While Marinette woke up the next day excited to see her friends and to scold Alya for almost getting caught in the akuma attack, Adrein was more nervous than he thought was humanly possible.

As much as he liked seeing Marinette, he didn't know whether he would be able to act normal in front of her. She didn't know he knew of her crush on him and acted strange around her she might take it as a sign of rejection from him. Adrien wanted to be friends with Marinette and he didn't want to hurt her just because he wasn't good with social interactions like this.

The only thing that could be worse than losing his chance of being friends with her as Adrien would be her finding out he was Chat. And if he acted strange around her now she might put two and tow together. What are the odds that Adrein because nervous and self conscience right after Chat Noir finds out that Marinette had a crush on Adrien? They're not good odds. Marinette can actually talk to Chat normally unlike the way she acts around Adrien. He won't risk losing the comfort and ease that their friendship as Chat and Marinette had.

Adrien decided he would do his best to go about his day like nothing happened the night before.

Like he didn't just find out that the really cute and sweet girl that sits behind him in class and that he secretly visits in the night has a crush on him.

Luck was on his side that day because Nino was already waiting for him at the front of the school so he did not have to worry about running into Marinette.

"Dude you look tired. Late night?" Nino asked as he saw the bag under his best friend's eyes.

"Yeah, a photo shoot ran late so I had to stay up doing homework." Lying to his best friend always made him feel guilty but he knew it was for the greater good. He would tell him one day but that time hasn't come yet so for now the lies would have to do.

They chatted about random things until the teacher arrived to start the class. So far so good. He hadn't done anything strange yet. He could make it through the day.

If only he could stop sneaking glances at Marinette every time he thought the teacher wasn't looking.

No one will notice his glances right?

"Adrien, what did I just announce to the class."

_"Damn I got caught. Hope my father doesn't hear of this."_

Before he could speak, one of Marinette's books accidentally fell off her desk. As she leaned over to pick it up she whispered to Adrien, "test tomorrow" and quickly took her seat again.

"You were telling us that we have a test tomorrow," said Adrien with as straight of a face as he could.

"Ah yes, like I was saying..." the teacher droned on but Adrien didn't hear a word.

_"Did that happen? Did that really just happen?"_

A quick look behind gave him a good view of a blushing Marinette.

_"Yeah that just happened. I owe her big time."_

So, to repay her, he decided to ask her to let him buy her lunch today. Buying her lunch also meant he had a chance to talk to her and maybe find out why she liked him.

This definitely wasn't a way of him getting closer to her as Adrien.

Okay maybe it was.

Don't judge the boy.

As soon as the bell rang signalling the end of class and beginning of lunch, Adrien made his way over to Marinette. She had already made it out of the classroom and was leaning against the wall next to the door with her phone in her face. A happy little tune and occasional cat noise coming from it. Normally, Marinette would be on her way out with by now but the urge to check her cats was too much and she would most likely fall down the stairs if she tried to check them while walking.

The sight made Adrien smile.

It also made him want to check his cats but he couldn't do that in front of her without his mask on.

Too bad he couldn't talk to her about Neko Atsume right now. Well it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Hey Marinette. Thanks for the save early," Adrien did his best not to stumble over his words. No need to be nervous. It's not like she has a crush on you.

"A-adrien! N-no promblen I mean problem," a blush spread across her cheeks as she tried to but a sentence together.

_"Awe so cute... wait focus."_

"What was that you were looking at?" Like he didn't know.

"Oh it's n-nothing, I was j-just checking my cats. I just realized that Lexy's personality is expensive-taste so I changed it to Sabrina. Sabrina's friendship is basically bought by clothes that Chloe gives her so I feel like it fits." As she spoke about her cat, her stutter began to go away.

_"She's so cute."_

"Cute."

_"Did I just say that out loud?"_


	6. Chapter 6

"Yeah, she is a pretty cute cat," Marinette spoke without looking up. This was a good thing for Adrien, as he would not like to explain why he was blushing after complementing a virtual cat. He wasn't even sure how he would explain the blush. He was, of course, blushing because he accidentally called Marinette cute out loud but he was lucky enough for her not to notice and think he was talking about the cat.

_"There is no way I'm this lucky. I probably used up all the good luck I have in this life-time today."_

"Do you name them all after people you know?" This got Marinette's attention away from her cats and made her lookup from her phone, reminding her of who was talking to her. The nervousness setting in once again.

"Well not all of them I mean the ones I do rename it's the name of people I know but I don't rename every cat in the game there are way to many. I know a lot of people but it's just too many heheh..." Marinette cut herself off before she could embarrass herself any more than she already had. While distracted by the cats of Neko Atsume she was able to talk to him properly but knowing that her crush, Adrien Agreste, was interested in her cats was almost enough to make her faint.

_"She's so nervous around me, how did I not notice her crush sooner."_

He wanted to talk to her more.

She acted so different when interacting with Adrien rather than Chat Noir. He could see bits and pieces of her personality but never as much as Chat could. The thought of asking her to lunch lay forgotten in the back of his mind. He was finally able to talk to her thanks to this game. Talking about this game was all he needed.

He didn't want to, he needed to talk to her more.

"Can I see them?" Adrien already knew most of the cats she had renamed. There might be one or two he hadn't seen yet but as Chat Noir he had gotten many chances to see through her catbook and knew it pretty well. But Adrien wasn't even supposed to know about the game, let alone the cats she had. Best he at least look at the cats so if he messes up and says something about the cats then he can say he saw it in her catbook.

"Uh yeah let me just..." Marinette quickly opened her catbook and changed the cat named Adrien back to its default name of Speckles. She had been lucky with Chat not seeing the name change but she won't even risk Adrien seeing it. It could reveal to him how much she pays attention to him and she wasn't ready to have him find out about her crush on him.

It was too late for that now but she didn't need to know that.

"Here you go," Marinette said as she handed him the phone, her hand slightly shaking and her blush turning to a deeper red as his hand brushed against hers for longer than need be. "I ch-changed their names due to uh their personality..."

As adorable as this was, Adrien needed not to be distracted and focus on the topic. He needed to take advantage of this time with Marinette alone. It was a miracle that Chloe hadn't noticed them and come over to drag him away like she often did when he gave his attention to anyone other than her. He forced himself to look away from Marinette and to her phone instead.

_"Remember, play it cool like a cat. No need to be nervous around her."_

He tried his best to act like this was his first time seeing them. He asked her a few questions before he decided he would tease her a bit. He had gotten many chances to tease her as Chat Noir but this was one of the first times he has been able to hold a conversation with her as Adrien. He was not going to miss this "purrfect" opportunity.

"I didn't know you were such a big fan of Chat Noir," Adrien said has he tried not to smirk but there was no hiding his teasing tone. Just the thought of how she would react to his comment made him giddy.

"Wh-what?" A bit of panic sparked in her eyes, something he hadn't expected. "What are you talking about?"

The blush that dusted her cheeks was gone now. Her faced went pale from panic.

"You named this cat Chat Noir and his personality is Lady-Killer." Why was she so freaked out?

"Oh that I thought.. never mind. He just uh struck me as the type. The one," emphasis on one, "time I met him he acted fl-flirty and called me princess. I'm not th-that big of a fan. How can I when I don't even know him?" Some of the color returned to her face but it was far from the blush she had earlier. She felt rather stupid panicking so much but she didn't want there to even be a chance of people finding about Chat's late night visits. Especially Adrien, what would he think of her if he knew a guy snuck in her room every night.

Her emphasis on the fact that she only met Chat once would have made anyone else suspicious but lucky for Marinette, Adrien instead used that to figure out why she freaked out.

_"Oh, so she was just nervous that I had been found out about the secret meetings."_

Without thinking he asked, "Which cat do you like better?"

"Huh?" confusion played across her face.

"The Chat Noir in your game or the one in real life?"

"Well..." she trailed off in thought.

Adrien's heart felt like it was going a thousand miles an hour, pounding so hard that the whole school could hear it. The suspense was killing him. It was supposed to be a playful question, something to start a conversation. It wasn't an important question, he didn't even have to think to ask it. So why was waiting for her answer so nerve racking. Why did he care so much for her opinion of him? He asked her about Chat after the Evillustrator incident so why was it so different this time. They were just friends now, right?

Friends that met in secret.

Friends that would talk for hours.

Friends that could lay in a girls bed together and talk about cats without being awkward.

Friends were allowed to think the other was cute and sweet and caring and so many other amazing things. Friends were allowed feel like they are on cloud nine just from hearing their friend's laugh, their jokes, their stories, seeing their absolutely stunning smile. Friends were allowed all this.

Right?

"I think," a light blush spread across her cheeks," I like the real Chat Noir a lot more than the virtual one. Even though this cat gives me gold fish, that silly kitty is much better."

Adrien's heart skipped a beat.

_"I'm in trouble."_


	7. Chapter 7

To say that Adrien Agreste was confused is an understatement.

For the longest of time, he thought his heart would only beat for his Ladybug but here it was, skipping a beat because sweet, kind, caring Marinette preferred him to a virtual cat.

After Marinette answered his question, Adrien made an excuse about his father wanting him home and quickly made his way home. His original plan to buy her lunch was thrown out the window as he did not know whether he would be able to make it through another conversation with her without doing something he might regret later. No point in having lunch together if all he could think about was holding her and watching her smile.

All she said was that she preferred the real Chat Noir.

Something so simple should not have affected him so much, of course someone would prefer a real person to a virtual cat.

But here he was, laying on his bed while remembering the oh so adorable look on Marinette's face as she said it.

His face felt hot and his heart rate shot through the roof just thinking about it. He had only been truly friends with her for a few days but he had been able to see so many different sides of her in such a short period of time. He already admired Marinette before they had begun talking but know he had a whole new perspective of her. He simply could not get his princess out of his head. Her friendship was one he would not be able to have with others. So warm and comfortable. She wasn't a rabid fangirl, just an amazing girl who had wormed her way into his heart.

"Plagg, I think I like Marinette..." As Adrien spoke these words out loud, a blush even darker then the one he had before appeared on his face. Saying it out loud made it feel so much more real then just thinking it. It also felt so right as the words rolled off his tongue.

"Well with the way your heart was pounding earlier I'm not surprised. I'm lucky I don't have a headache from having to listen to that." Plagg couldn't help but tease the poor love-struck boy.

"Was it really that loud?" Adrien asked, embarrassed over his heart rate which he really had no control over.

"You'd only be able to hear it from where I was at." With that Plagg shrugged off and went for his cheese.

Though he appeared as if he was not interested in Adrien's feelings for Marinette, Plagg was actually panicking a bit in his head. If Adrien's affection for Marinette had grown this much in such a short period of time then he would be in much more pain if he ever had to leave that friendship behind. He clearly had the ability to become friends with her outside the mask but their mutual crush would most likely lead to awkwardness that they didn't have as Marinette and Chat Noir. He would lose a true friendship.

_"I should have just told him no when he wanted to go to her house in the first place. He should have stuck with real cats rather than virtual ones."_

Plagg still didn't have the heart to tell the boy the danger he was putting Marinette in, especially after what had occurred that day. He would tell him soon but now was not the time. All he could do was watch the boy stare into nothing until break time was up.

Before he knew it, Adrien had spent most of his lunch break contemplating his realization and only had time to grab a sandwich to eat on the way back to school.

He arrived before Marinette, which wasn't very surprising giving her attendance record. But what was surprising was when the school day ended and Marinette was still no where in sight. He tried not to let it bug him but he was having such a hard time concentrating without knowing where she was. Many possible explanations popped into his head but he couldn't seem to make a positive one.

She could be sick.

Or hurt.

The latter of the two made him want to transform then and there just to go find her but he knew that wasn't the way to go about things. For all he knew she just decided to stay home for the rest of the day. If he transformed to look for her, she would probably get mad at him if he made such a rash decision and Ladybug would be furious over him risking is secret for a girl that may not be in any danger. Ladybug didn't even know that he had made friends with a civilian as Chat Noir. And over a cat game too.

_"If Ladybug ever found out that I used my transformation for a cat game she would probably lecture me over how irresponsible I'm acting and that I'm putting Marinette in harms way."_

_"Harms way..."_

With that thought, the last bell rang. Adrien immediately went to Alya to find out where his princess was. He felt so stupid, if anyone saw Marinette with Chat Noir she could become an easy target to an akuma. He needed to know where she was now before it drove him crazy. He needed her safe.

"Hey Alya, where's Marinette?" despite the effort he put in, Adrien couldn't keep the worry out of his voice.

"Marinette? She accidentally got burned while taking out some bread so her parents had to take her to the hospital." Alya said all this in a surprisingly calm voice.

"What!" Adrien said with an surprisingly uncalm voice.

"I'm kidding," Alya said with a smirk, "she had to stay home because of an issue with the bakery." Adrien's reaction to the possibility of an injured Marinette was priceless and something she had to share with her best friend. Though it might make her faint from happiness.

"Oh, well that's a relief," Adrien's expressions finally calmed.

"You got it bad, don't you?" Alya probably shouldn't assume right away but she couldn't miss this chance to confirm her suspicions.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Adrien quickly looked at his phone and faked a surprised expression that Alya easily saw through. "I have to go, my father is waiting for me."

That was all Alya needed.

_"My luck has definitely run out."_


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien was hopeless and completely out of luck. All he could do was work on homework and hope not to think of the wonderful person that Marinette is.

It didn't work.

He opened Neko Atsume to distract himself.

The first thing he saw was Princess Marinette.

_"Yeah, I don't have anymore luck."_

He had to just let it out now.

"I'm putting her in danger, aren't I Plagg?" He said glummly.

"Yeah, took you long enough to figure that out."

"Wait you knew? And you never once thought of mentioning the danger I was putting her in?" the sudden anger didn't surprise Plagg. He had see how volitaile human emotions could be through his many years. He knew something like this could happen.

"You were too happy with her. I couldn't take that away from you. I didn't have the heart to break yours." The sincerity in his voice was not something he heard everyday. It was enough to bring down his anger but not completely lift his spirits.

"I... thank you. At least I managed to have some time with her."

"You two can still be friends. Just don't visit her as frequently and see if you can get closer to her as Adrien." Plagg would prefer no contact as Chat Noir but there's only so much he can watch his boy go through.

"I guess that could work. But what about my feelings for both her and Ladybug?" questioned the model.

"You could either continue pining for Ladybug and hope she will return your feelings, or move onto Marinette. You don't have to choose right away. I've lived for a long time but even I can't tell you what to do in this situation."

The boy stayed quiet before simply answering "Thanks Plagg."

"No problem. So how much cheese am I getting for that advice." Teased Plagg.

"... did you say all that for cheese?" Adrien was genuinely hurt, that was something unexpected.

"Of course not, I care about my boys and seeing you sad all the time doesn't make me happy either. Though I could go for a little cheese right now..."

Knowing that Plagg did care about him made him feel so much better.

"You know what?" asked Plagg, but before Adrien could answer he said, "Let's go see Marinette. Talking to her and that cat game usually lift your spirits."

"You're right. Plagg, claws out."

Marinette was through the roof. She should be doing homework.

But all she could do was think about was Adrien.

Alya had texted her earlier to inform her that Adrien asked about her. Alya left off the part where he acted nervously to her accusation of having feelings for Marinette. If her best friend was going to faint from happiness she wanted to be there.

Even without the added information, Marinette felt happy then she thought she could ever be.

Not only did he talk to her today but he also worried about her.

Maybe he was noticing her.

But maybe he just wanted to be her friend.

_"Don't bring yourself down. Even if he just wants to be friend you are at least getting closer to him."_

She was distracted from her thoughts by a knock at her trapdoor. Her spirits lifted as she thought of another night with Chat. Until she realized that the knock didn't come from above her bed.

Opening the hatch, her mother's head became visible.

"Your father and I are going out to make a delivery and pick up dinner. Would you like anything?" Sabine asked.

"No, just pick up whatever you two want," her daughter answered.

"Okay, remember keep the door lock and don't let anyone in while we are gone." She said as she closed the trapdoor.

Marinette suddenly felt guilty. What would her parents think of her letting Chat Noir in every night for the past few days. Maybe she should ask him not to come by so often.

But his visits maybe her happier than she liked to admit.

As if on cue, she heard a knock. This time from above her bed.

Doing a quick check to make sure Tikki was out of sight, she opened the trapdoor and was met with a flower.

The flower was a spur of the moment thing. You're supposed to give a girl a flower when you apologize, right?

"Sorry about not coming back yesterday." He said as he offered her the flower. Her smile as she accepted the flower made him almost forget his thoughts from earlier.

Almost.

"It's alright Chat. Saving Paris is a hard job and you probably needed to rest after all that," her kindness was beyond words.

"Don't just stand there, come in."

As he made his way inside, she made her way down the stairs and place the flower next to her computer. Following her, Chat noticed some pictures of him as Adrien when from magazines. She must have put them up since she didn't have to hide her crush from him.

The butterflies were back in his stomach.

A distraction was needed.

He saw her reach for her phone and did the same. Cats should do the trick.

As soon as he checked his gifts, a laugh made its way out of his mouth.

"Looks like my princess likes me more than my lady."

Confusion set upon her face was she heard his statement. What did he mean by that?

"Come here and look at my gifts Princess," he said with a smirk.

She put her phone down and looked over to his phone. Sure enough, Princess Marinette had brought more golf than Ladybug did. But there was something about what she was seeing that seemed strange to her.

"Why didn't you change Spud to Ladybug instead of Ginger?"

"Oh, I hadn't gotten Spud when I first started chaning the names and I was too inpawtient." Smiling at his pun.

_"I think that one is the worst pun yet."_

"Are you gonna change it now or keep Ginger as Ladybug?"

"I'll keep it, its really grown on me. Besides I would feel bad about taking away Ginger's new name and having nothing to replace it."

Thinking for a second, Marinette asks, "What about Nathaniel?"

Chat was about to answer when he remembered that it was Adrien who knew Nathaniel, not Chat Noir.

"Who's Nathaniel?" feigning confusion.

"Oh right, remember the Evillustrator? That was my classmate Nathaniel. His hair is red like a tomato so I thought it would fit with the way you name your cats."

"Didn't he have a massive crush on you and make you go on that date? I don't think a knight should name is cats after someone that tries to steal his Princess." There was no hiding the protective tone in his voice.

"It's not like he hurt me and he wasn't himself," she said defensively. She wasn't that close to Nathaniel but didn't loke the tone in Chat's voice. "Maybe I'll name Ginger Nathaniel then."

At that, Chat felt jealous. He shouldn't, but it still did. Marinette was friends with Nathaniel so why not change a cat to his name. It was a rational decision but the adorable smile Marinette gets when a can brings her gold fish flashed in his mind and he definitely did not want her to use that smile with anyone other than him. Especially with a guy who had previously showed interest in her.

A happy squick brought him out of his thoughts before they brought him down an irrational path.

"What is it?" the cat asked as he tried to look over her shoulder and at her phone.

"Chat Noir brought me more gold fish," she said with more excitement then he had expected.

It warmed his heart.

"Then can the knight your cat was so purrfectly named after receive a thank you kiss?" It was just a joke but Chat wished she would do just what he had asked.

"Hmm only if you stop the bad puns," she teased in retaliation.

"Alright then," he humored her. He knew she wouldn't do it.

At least that's want he thought before he felt lips like heaven pressed against his cheek.

There was no hiding the look of surprise and the blush that had set on his face. If only his mask covered his whole face.

And now it was Marinette's turn to end up on the ground laughing.

"I didn't th- I mean the kiss er and puns i .."

As she calmed down she said, "No more puns now, right?"

"R-right," the crack in his voice made him blush even more. Was there anyway to make him anymore embarrassed?

A sad smiled on Marinette's face brought him out of his embarrassment. The thought of him doing something wrong crossed his mind and easily drain the blush from his face.

"I wish I could make him have a face that red..." she said in a quiet voice.

Oh.

_Oh._

"You mean your Prince right?" If only she knew.

"Yeah, he talked to me today," there was something bittersweet about the way she said it. "But..."

"But?"

"I feel like he just wants to be friends. I'm starting to think that he'll never like me..." her voice trailed off.

Chat stopped thinking after that. The sadness in her voice made him feel like someone had reached into his chest and decided to squeeze his heart with all their might. Moving towards her, he cupped her face. Making her look up at him, he looked her in the eyes and said something he thought he would never have the courage to say.

"I like you."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone know, when the next chapter is uploaded I'll be completely caught up with the chapters that are on FFN. After this chapter I took a few months break because of trying to get into the University i wanted to go to (I did not get in but I did get into a good university so thats all that matters) The writing style might be a bit different after this chapter because, as i said, there were months in between this chapter and the next. 
> 
> ALSO think about all my followers on FFN having to deal with this cliffhanger for months hehehe....

Chat Noir had made his decision.

He loved Ladybug.

But he liked Marinette.

And Marinette liked him back.

As much as he loved his Lady, she showed no signs of returning his feelings. He felt comfortable with Marinette in a way that he had never felt with Ladybug. Ladybug always had a wall up that did not allow him in but there was no wall with Marinette. Here he was, showing up in her room night after night, and she never pushed him away. His feelings for Marinette were not as strong as they were for Ladybug but that didn't matter. She was an amazing person that managed to find a place in his heart which he once thought would only be filled by Ladybug.

He could goof around with Marinette. Play with cute virtual cats together. Joke and laugh the night away. She could warm his heart in ways he didn't know were possible.

All things he could never have with Ladybug

Marinette made him happy.

If only he had confessed with the mask off.

"But you love Ladybug."

Because the person confessing wasn't the one she loved.

"And I love Adrien."

She put her hands to his chest, almost like she was going to push him away. She didn't, she could never really push him away. But the thought made Chat feel so much pain. He had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered softly while removing her face from his hand and looking away.

"D-don't be," the crack in his voice shocked both of them, "that was... selfish of me. I know you like him and I know that you are hurt from the thought of him not liking you back. Seeing you so sad... it was an impulse I guess."

She started to look back at him, hurt written across her face.

"An impulse? So you didn't mean it?"

Chat had made his second mistake.

"No! Not like that. I meant what I said. It's just that seeing you sad over Adrien made me want to tell you."

Panic was filling him. He was losing her and this was the last thing he wanted. His Princess meant too much to him to lose. He couldn't make anymore mistakes.

But he had made his third one already.

"So you would have never said anything if I wasn't sad over another guy then? Is that why you confessed, because I was pining after someone that wasn't you? You love Ladybug, not me. And I love Adrien, not you."

Her last words both warmed and hurt his heart. But he had no one to blame for that but himself. He tried to pull her in at the wrong time. The only thing he could hope for was that she would not push him away.

"Marinette I like you, not because you like someone else, but because you're you. And you are so amazing and..."

He took a step forward but she took a step back. She wasn't pushing him away at least. She was just running away. He could chase her, like he always chased Ladybug.

So he reached for once again, but his hand was pushed away.

"Please leave..." she said almost too quiet to hear.

Chat didn't know what hurt him more, her actions or her words. Either way, he was being pushed away.

"Wh-what?" Confusion and hurt were the only emotions she could see on his face but even Chat himself didn't know exactly how he felt.

"Pl-please leave Chat, I need time to think..."

"...Okay, anything for my princess."

Before she could react, he took her hand and kissed it like he had done before. He raced out her trapdoor faster than he had ever done before.

Now it was Marinette who needed a distraction. She would have never guessed that Chat Noir would fall for her. In hindsight it did make sense, he loved Ladybug and Marinette was Ladybug. Chat was a friend she would never want to lose. He was someone she cared about. But she didn't feel the same way he did.

At least she thought she didn't.

She didn't even know if he really liked her or not. His words confused her.

But she didn't want to think about him right now, so she opened the very game that brought them together. Probably not the best idea since the first thing she sees is her Chat Noir. Opening the catbook would fix that right away.

But those cats could only distract her for so long and soon it was time for bed

Unknown to either one of them, they both fell asleep crying for the other.

Adrien didn't have the energy for school the next day. Seeing Marinette would be hell for him and he didn't know if he would be able to stand it if he saw her sad. She was strong though, and most likely hide how she was feeling but that only made him fell worse.

When Adrien arrived at school, Nino could tell there was something wrong with his best friend but Adrien refused to admit there was something wrong.

When Marinette arrived at school, Alya could tell there was something wrong with her best friend but Marinette dodged every question and tried her best to distract her with new designs.

Both sets of best friends were in for a long day.

Adrien managed to avoid seeing Marinette before class but there was no way he would last the whole day. She did sit right behind him.

She entered the room like normal. She waved and smiled at him so shyly as if she wasn't hurting inside. Sat in her seat like there was nothing wrong in the world. She gossiped with Alya like any other day.

But Adrien saw the pain in her eyes and the slight gloss over them told him she had been crying the night before.

He eavesdropped as usual, not caring if Nino would tease him. He just wanted to know what was going on with his princess.

The two girls talked about the randomist of things that day. It was obvious to Adrien that Alya had noticed a change in Marinette and was trying to get it out of her. She showed no signs of success so far. Every time Alya pressed her for answers, Marinette would simply change the subject. Eventually Adrien heard a cute little tune that told him Marinette was checking her cats in Neko Atsume.

_"At least she's feeling well enough to still check on those cats. Maybe that Chat Noir will bring her gold fish and she'll have that smile on her face again."_

But the next words that came out of Alya's mouth made it so his thoughts would never be true.

"Hey wasn't that cat named Chat Noir?"

"Yeah I took the name off and put it back to it's default." Her voice was shockingly flat, like she was forcing herself to sound uninterested. To sound like the change in name meant nothing to her.

But it did mean something to her and Adrien knew that.

_"I think I lost her..."_


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, "Which Cat" is completely caught up to the chapters that have been released on FFN  
> I wrote this chapter months after I posted the previous chapter so it was short just to give all my readers an update   
> This is the original A/N that i posted along with the chapter, keep in mind it was about 5 months inbetween:  
> "So I'm back. A lot of things happened and there was no way for me to work on this without stressing myself out. I didn't get into the uni I was striving for but at least I'm going to a uni, I start in a week.  
> Also my Neko Atsume app somehow became corrupted so i lost all my progress ;-;  
> To be honest, this fic isnt turning out the way I wanted it. Its longer than i meant to make it and took a turn i was not planning for because i felt like the people reading it wanted it to be longer. I'll try to wrap this up as quick as i can so i can work on more fics but that doesnt mean that I'll cheap out and suddenly end it.  
> anyway on to the show."

Adrien felt trapped.

Every hope that his friendship with Marinette as Chat Noir were throw away as she confirmed that she changed the cat's name back to default.

Leaving the class would worry his friends but he could feel himself panicking. He didn't have many friends and the heavy feeling in his chest from the thought of losing a friend was not something he was used to. But in the middle of class there was little he could do about it that would not call the attention of his classmates. Worrying them was not an option he really had in this situation. All he could do was wait for a break where he could run off and have some time alone to his thoughts.

Luck seemed to be one his side again as Nino did not invite him to lunch and he was taken to his house to eat right as he left the school.

"Plagg, what should I do?"

"Give her the space she needs. You two were building a good friendship, I doubt it will end so easy," Plagg reassured the boy.

"But for how long? I'm not used to having friends, is there some rule about how long to wait after you have a fight?"

"Friendship doesn't have set rules, its something you work out as it goes on. Don't stress so much or you're going to ruin those model looks of yours."

"Thanks Plagg."

"Thank me with cheese then," Plagg teased.

Chat Noir didn't visit Marinette that night.

Or the next.

If she was honest with herself, Marinette was a little lonely without the cat visiting her at night. The day Alya noticed the change in Chat's name on Neko Atsume was the same day she changed the name back to Chat Noir.

There friendship was new but she could not deny that their friendship felt so nice. Maybe it was because they were already crime fighting partners, even if Chat didn't know it.

The friendship they had forged could be one that they could have as Ladybug and Chat Noir. If only she didn't always try to keep things professional, separating civilian lives from their super hero lives.

Her heart felt heavy.

They could have such a good friendship but she was stopping it.

Both as Marinette and as Ladybug.

"I hope he comes back soon."


End file.
